Date: 6/28/26 2:46 pm From: Mark McShane <00001c91b59d7b85-dmarc-request...> Subject: [GABO-L] Personal Georgia Swallow-tailed Kite County 100!
Hi All,
I’m not sure what it was, but something happened in the summer of 2022 when it dawned on me that I could make a special personal, and maybe unique, combination county birding / rare bird chasing long-term project out of trying to see Swallow-tailed Kites (or STKI, my favorite bird) in as many Georgia counties as possible… and there are 159 counties in Georgia!
Amazingly, these glamorously impressive and stunningly graceful, beautiful, and acrobatic kites have been eBird documented in 146 Georgia counties, leaving only 13 Georgia counties without a documented record so far according to eBird. The 13 counties are:
Baldwin
Clayton
Dade
Dawson
Douglas
Lincoln
Lumpkin
Paulding
Polk
Taliaferro
Towns
Union
Walker
Florida has them documented in every county, Florida has 67 counties.
To my knowledge there are probably just two of us that are really actively working on this every year since then, James White and myself, and we really enjoy it and collaborate a good bit. Although… there are some Georgia county birders who want to see every Georgia bird in every Georgia county who work on it more by default every year as well!
We try to strategize to specialize in seeing these kites in county areas according to where they mostly are or should be during their main seasons in Georgia:
Pre-breeding Migratory Season
Breeding Season
Post-breeding Migratory Season
In Georgia there are always some spring vagrants out of breeding range, but mostly the birds are in their breeding areas in the spring, and then they post-breeding disperse more generally, but still randomly and quite uncommonly to rarely, around the state in the summer through August when they depart Georgia south on fall migration.
- - -
I averaged 19 new counties for the kites per year for the 2023, 2024, and the 2025 seasons, and this past Saturday reached a personal total of 92 STKI counties for Georgia in Montgomery County.
James, however, and after much success in the past few years, has really hit the ground running this spring on this project, and Saturday he saw and photographed a Swallow-tailed Kite in Berrien County for his personal 100th Georgia Swallow-tailed Kite county, a previously not yet accomplished feat, and he is probably the first person ever to see Swallow-tailed Kites in 100 counties or county equivalents in a single U.S. state or territory!
By default the easier to find in Georgia Mississippi Kites (MIKIs) are more often encountered during our county kite quests and we both have around 120 MIKI counties as well.
- - -
The average number of counties for a U.S. state is about 62, and only the following states have 100 or more counties, or county equivalents:
I am not yet sure how many Texas counties STKIs have been documented in, but it may be that Georgia is the only state where the kites have been seen in 146 counties, and it very well may be that the kites have not yet been seen in even 100 counties or county equivalents (especially only by one person) in any other state other than Georgia. Georgia may be the only U.S. state where this is even possible!
- - -
I relate this crazy tale of man-made borders and species distribution to congratulate James and also because I’m just so impressed (ok and very easily too) that this is just really indicative of how cool birding is, and how easy it is for anyone to have a unique custom designed birding project that really only one or two people, maybe in the whole world, might be working on!
What is or could be your current or next birding passion project?
Super Congratulations to James on GA STKI County 100!
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